Daily Resource Highlight - 06/27/2022

Posted by on June 27, 2022 at 5:11 PM

Below are the highlights and featured resources of this past week’s Daily* Resource.

June 21, 2022 - Professional Development for Educators and Their Students

America has asked a lot of its educators since COVID-19 hit, and yet most have shown great resilience and remained in the classroom. Bridge Alliance members are determined to reward that resiliency with resources and community. Last month we told you about Civic Spirit’s Educators Cohort for faith-based educators, as well as Public Agenda’s program to help teachers find their voice in the media.

Today, we want to highlight two more programs; one for grade school educators and one for college educators. Sphere at CATO is accepting applications for its July Summits for grades 5-12 teachers. The deadlines are July 1st (for the first summit) and July 15th (for the second summit). These summits will bring the power of CATO to participants and help them bring civic culture and civil dialogue into their classrooms. If you know a high school teacher who is keen on high level professional development, send them this link to the Sphere scholarship application.

As for college educators, American Democracy Project (ADP) has you covered. They have a program to help foster deeper, more challenging conversations in the college classroom. Applications for that program are due by June 30th, so make sure to submit your application soon. Like Sphere, ADP is looking to both equip educators with new resources, as well as create a community of collaboration that will help them engage their students in new and exciting ways.

And if you’re a high school student (or know one) who wants to supercharge their civic education, Junior State of America invites you to apply to one of their summer programs. Participants will join a community of future leaders and will be challenged with a college-level curriculum that will set you up for future success in advocacy and civics.

June 23, 2022 - Ask Joe: What If Cancel Culture Cancels ME?

Cancel Culture is when “the public” ostracizes an individual or organization for doing something that it finds intolerable. To some people, it can often feel like mob rule to enforce thought policing. To others, it’s a way to hold people accountable for hurtful behavior and show others what is and is not acceptable (though, as Lucia of Junior State of America points out, it seems to do a poor job of fixing anything).

When we think about Cancel Culture, we usually think about how it’s affecting prominent figures that we may or may not care about. But what happens when you’re the target? In a recent Braver Angels blog post, Randy Lioz describes being canceled by his favorite animal welfare society, and how he handled the experience.

Given how quickly American culture is changing and how easy it is to publicly announce one’s thoughts online, I’m guessing some of you have been canceled as well, or at the very least are vulnerable to it. For instance, it’s easy to imagine a member of the AllSides team being canceled after they (bravely) published their discussion on transgender terminology. 

So what about you? Have people tried to “cancel” you for your beliefs? Are you reluctant to share your beliefs because of that fear? We know that a lot of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory (per NICD’s brief), and maybe you’ve been reluctant to share your fears and suspicions because you worry about being treated like an outcast.

If some of this hits home for you, email Joe and ask for his advice at [email protected]. If your question is chosen, his response to you will be published in an upcoming edition of the Ask Joe column on the Fulcrum. And don’t worry, you don’t have to use your real name.

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